# Cash flow growth Human Guide

## What This Is For
Retrieve year-over-year growth in cash flow metrics including Operating Cash Flow, Free Cash Flow, and Net Cash Flow. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for growth marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Cash flow growth agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for cash flow growth.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Cash flow growth guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- **Operating cash flow trends**: Core business cash generation ability
- **Free cash flow health**: Capital available for dividends, buybacks, M&A
- **Net cash flow direction**: Overall liquidity position changes
- **Volatility assessment**: Consistency of cash generation
- **Historical context**: Multi-year patterns and inflection points
- Efficient working capital management
- Strong collections and payables optimization
- Quality earnings (cash backing profits)
- Capex changes driving the difference
- Growth investments (negative) or harvesting (positive)
- Check capex as % of revenue trend
- Large debt issuances or repayments

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Prerequisites, Query Format, Output Format, Key Observations Pattern, Metrics Reference, Analysis Tips, Strong Cash Generation, Free Cash Flow Divergence, Net Cash Flow Volatility, Working Capital Impact.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Starting without a clear audience or goal.
- Asking for a final artifact before sharing examples or constraints.
- Accepting a generic first draft without checking it against the intended use.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Cash flow growth human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the octagonai/skills skill entry for `cash-flow-growth`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Cash Flow Growth

Retrieve and analyze year-over-year growth in cash flow metrics for public companies using Octagon MCP.

## Prerequisites

Ensure Octagon MCP is configured in your AI agent (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, etc.). See [references/mcp-setup.md](references/mcp-setup.md) for installation instructions.

## Query Format

```
Retrieve cash-flow growth metrics for <TICKER>, limited to <N> records and filtered by period <FY|Q>.
```

**MCP Call:**

```json
{
  "server": "octagon-mcp",
  "toolName": "octagon-agent",
  "arguments": {
    "prompt": "Retrieve cash-flow growth metrics for AAPL, limited to 5 records and filtered by period FY"
  }
}
```

## Output Format

The agent returns a table with YoY growth percentages:

| Fiscal Year | Operating Cash Flow Growth (%) | Free Cash Flow Growth (%) | Net Cash Flow Growth (%) |
|-------------|-------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|
| 2025 | -5.73 | -9.23 | 8.55 |
| 2024 | 6.98 | 9.26 | -1.14 |
| 2023 | -9.50 | -10.64 | 1.53 |
| 2022 | 17.41 | 19.89 | -1.84 |
| 2021 | 28.96 | 26.70 | 0.63 |

**Data Source:** octagon-financials-agent

## Key Observations Pattern

After receiving data, generate observations:

1. **Operating cash flow trends**: Core business cash generation ability
2. **Free cash flow health**: Capital available for dividends, buybacks, M&A
3. **Net cash flow direction**: Overall liquidity position changes
4. **Volatility assessment**: Consistency of cash generation
5. **Historical context**: Multi-year patterns and inflection points

## Metrics Reference

| Metric | Definition |
|--------|------------|
| Operating Cash Flow Growth | YoY change in cash from core business operations |
| Free Cash Flow Growth | YoY change in OCF minus Capital Expenditures |
| Net Cash Flow Growth | YoY change in total cash position (OCF + Investing + Financing) |

## Analysis Tips

### Strong Cash Generation
When Operating Cash Flow Growth > Revenue Growth:
- Efficient working capital management
- Strong collections and payables optimization
- Quality earnings (cash backing profits)

### Free Cash Flow Divergence
When FCF Growth differs significantly from OCF Growth:
- Capex changes driving the difference
- Growth investments (negative) or harvesting (positive)
- Check capex as % of revenue trend

### Net Cash Flow Volatility
Net Cash Flow often volatile due to:
- Large debt issuances or repayments
- Share buyback programs
- Dividend policy changes
- M&A activity

### Working Capital Impact